


Book Club of Two

by literaryoblivion



Series: Tumblr Ficlets [133]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Injured Castiel, Libraries, M/M, Meet-Cute, Post-War, Post-World War I, Veteran Castiel, World War I
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 12:56:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13388259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literaryoblivion/pseuds/literaryoblivion
Summary: Castiel, returned from the war, jobless, and injured, is bored and needs something to occupy him until he can find work. He decides to go to the library to check out a book, and runs into Sam who gives him some recommendations.





	Book Club of Two

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on the following prompt I received on Tumblr, "So you said to send prompts for any fandom any ship. No pressure to get to this at all, especially since idk that you ship sastiel, but: Sam/Cas WW1 au Cas returning from the end of the war".
> 
> This was cross-posted on Tumblr [HERE](http://literaryoblivion.tumblr.com/post/169756940783/so-you-said-to-send-prompts-for-any-fandom-any).
> 
> *Note: I've never written Sam/Castiel, nor anything in this time period. I did my best though, but I did fudge some dates. Forgive me.

In an attempt to relieve his boredom (and to give his mind something else to focus on besides the pain in his leg), Castiel goes to the library a few blocks down from his one room tenement. He’s not quite sure what he even wants, but he needs something to do besides count the cracks in his ceiling while he’s between jobs.

The library isn’t crowded, persay, but there are a good many people perusing the shelves, and a small group of children are being read to in the corner in the children’s section. Perhaps many of the adults there are parents in that case. He wanders towards the fiction section, eyeing the books but not really reading the titles.

Most of the authors seem unfamiliar to him; he wasn’t much of a reader before the war, and he only read the one copy of  _Tarzan_  a soldier had left behind during the war. He has the thought that maybe he should ask someone for a recommendation when he bumps into a rather tall young man with long brown hair.

“I’m sorry. Excuse me. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going,” Castiel says with a nod. He starts to make his way around the man to get back to the front desk to speak with the librarian when the man stops him.

“Do you need help?” the stranger asks. Immediately anger flares in Castiel because of the implications of the question. Does this man assume that because Castiel is holding a cane that he can’t walk? Before Castiel can open his mouth for a rude retort, the young man adds, “You seem like you don’t know what book to get. I could recommend a few, if you’d like?”

Castiel deflates. “Oh. That… um, yes, actually. I haven’t read much, so I’m not sure what I like, just something entertaining, I suppose.”

The man nods with a small smile. “I’ve always liked P.G. Wodehouse. His are usually comical.” He points up to the right of the row of books written by said author.

“If you think you might be up for a mystery, though, there’s a new book that just came out by an Agatha Christie that I’ve been wanting to read. I think I saw a copy here.” He turns and waves for Castiel to follow, which he does. 

Once he’s caught up to him, the man plucks a book from a shelf and presents it to Castiel. “Still here! Here ya go.” Castiel accepts the book and pauses.

“Wait, didn’t you say you wanted to read it?” Castiel asks.

The young man shrugs. “It’s okay. I can wait. I’ve got a few other things, too. I come here a lot.”

“Well, alright. If you’re sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Thank you, uh…”

“Sam.” He sticks his hand out and Castiel accepts it, shaking it.

“I am Castiel.”

Sam smiles. “Nice to meet you, Castiel. I hope you enjoy the book. Let me know how it is.” He gives Castiel a small nod before wandering off to another area of the library.

Castiel stares after the man until he disappears, and once he has, Castiel takes the one book the man handed him to the front desk to check it out.

~

A week later, Castiel is back at the library to return the rather intriguing mystery novel and to hopefully pick up something else (and maybe run into that same man from before). He doesn’t want to get his hopes up, but Sam had mentioned he was at the library a great deal, so it’s not too much to think he might be there again when Castiel was?

Not wanting to look desperate wandering the aisles searching for Sam rather than a book, Castiel returns to the shelves that held P.G. Wodehouse, the other author Sam had mentioned to him. He takes his time getting there though, scanning the aisles for the familiar tall frame and long brown hair.

He picks up a few of the Wodehouse titles that seem interesting to him, not having seen Sam on the way there. Of course, it’s when he’s leaving the aisle to go to the front desk that he runs into Sam again. Literally.

“Oh, I’m–” Sam starts only to stop with a small smile growing on his face. “Oh, it’s you. Castiel, right?” Castiel nods, and Sam continues, “Did you finish the Christie novel already?”

“Yes. It was very enjoyable. I came to get something else,” Castiel says holding up a few of the books he has in his free hand. “I just returned the Christie novel if you want to ask the desk for it.”

“I will. Thank you!”

“Perhaps…,” Castiel says, “when you’re finished, we could… discuss it? Over coffee?”

The smile on Sam’s face grows. “I’d like that very much, actually. Where can I reach you to let you know I finished?”

Castiel can feel a faint smile on his own face as he pulls a piece of paper and a pen from his pocket. He writes down the phone number of the hall phone and, just in case, his address, not sure why he adds it in all honesty. He hands it over to Sam.

“I have a neighbor who is on the phone a lot, so if you can’t get through, you can try again later.”

“Okay.” Sam pockets the paper and looks at his watch, grimacing. “I have to get going actually to go meet my brother. But i’ll definitely call you, Cas.” He gives Castiel another smile and a wave before quickly leaving.

Castiel gets a slight thrill over Sam’s nickname for him, and he tries his best not to look like a grinning fool as he takes his books to the front desk. There’s a skip in his step that has nothing to do with his limp as he walks home, excited for Sam’s future call.

**Author's Note:**

> Because I wanted to keep this short, I ended it here. But have the following tags from the post:  
> #ALSO I HAD MORE BUT REALIZED IT WAS JUST KIND OF LAME #BUT BASICALLY THEY GO OUT AND TALK FOR HOURS ABOUT MORE THAN JUST BOOKS #AND THEN SAM INVITES CAS OVER TO DINNER #AND THEN THEY JUST MEET UP ALL THE TIME AND READ BOOKS AND HAVE MEALS #AND DEAN GETS CAS A JOB #AND LIKE HE'S PART OF THE FAMILY #BUT THEN HE STARTS TO LIKE SAM AND HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT THAT SO HE TRIES TO AVOID THEM #BUT SAM CONFRONTS HIM ABOUT IT AND IS LIKE WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON CAS?? I MISS YOU??? #AND CASTIEL CONFESSES THAT HE'S IN LOVE WITH SAM AND SAM JUST GRINS AND BLUSHES AND THEN PULLS CAS IN FOR A KISS #THE END
> 
> Come say hi on [my tumblr](http://literaryoblivion.tumblr.com) or [my twitter](http://twitter.com/lit_oblivion).


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